Easy Gazpacho (From Canned Tomatoes)

This easy gazpacho recipe uses canned tomatoes and takes just 5 minutes to make. This delicious chilled soup is adaptable and impressive.  My neat trick to tame the garlic and onion means you can enjoy all the flavour without overpowering anyone near who gets close! 

Easy Gazpacho

Gazpacho shouts of summer and this easy light version is perfect for the warmer days; cool, refreshing and delicious. I’ve got a neat trick that tames the raw garlic and onion so you still get the flavour, but won’t overpower the people around you!

  This easy gazpacho recipe doesn’t need a fancy power blender or food processor. Make it in minutes with a simple basic stick blender.  Gazpacho is best made with flavorful tomatoes at the peak of ripeness. Bland under-ripe fruit simply won’t cut it, so I’m using good tinned tomatoes instead. As always when using canned tomatoes, I don’t recommend buying a budget brand. You don’t need the most expensive, but if you spend a few pence more on a good quality brand, it makes a big difference. 

What is Gazpacho?

Gazpacho is an ancient dish from Andalusia, invented long before Europeans discovered tomatoes. Originally made by the Romans from bread, olive oil, olives and water, the tomatoes and peppers were added later. There are now many variations, but I love the classic tomato version. 

Chilled Soup – the Perfect Summer Lunchtime Dish

Cold soups make a perfect summer lunchtime dish. Refreshing and flavourful, traditional soups such as gazpacho, borscht and vichyssoise are packed with delicious vegetable flavours and one of my favourite ways to eat extra vegetables during the summer. 

Why You Will Love My Gazpacho 

• This gazpacho recipe is so EASY! 
• It uses canned tomatoes as the main ingredient – a store cupboard staple. 
• It takes minutes to make, and you can use a cheap stick blender to mix it. There’s no need for fancy food processors or power jug blenders. 
• I’ve tamed the garlic and onion so you can enjoy your gazpacho while still smelling sweet.  

Should I Add Bread? 

Authentic Spanish gazpacho contains bread, but then it doesn’t use canned tomatoes. I haven’t included it. If you have some stale rustic bread or sourdough that needs using up, then go on and add it to your soup. Tear into bite-sized pieces and soak in the canned tomatoes for half an hour before you blend in the other ingredients. Don’t use cheap white sliced bread, though. It won’t improve the soup at all. 

Bread in Soups Across Mediterranean countries, there is a tradition of adding old bread to soup. This is peasant cookery at its best, wasting nothing and making sumptuous dishes from humble ingredients. In Italy the bread and tomato soup is pappa al pomodoro. It is served warm; the 2 day old bread and tomatoes are heated 3 times so the bread breaks down to thicken and add an almost creamy texture to the soup.    In Spain, the bread and tomato soup is salmorejo, a slimmed down gazpacho made with garlic, vinegar, olive oil, tomatoes and bread, served chilled. 

Chunky or Smooth? 

It entirely depends on your taste, and how good your blender is!  I made this with an everyday standard stick or immersion blender. Most of us don’t have high-end blenders and food processors and you don’t need them.   If you like your soup chunkier, reserve some of the cucumber and red pepper and throw it in at the end, or scoop some out before you whizz in the oil.  

How to Make Easy Gazpacho

Collect the ingredients. Choose good tinned tomatoes. It’s best to use pepper and cucumber straight from the fridge, and on an especially hot day, chill the canned tomatoes as well. Step One – Dice the onion and garlic, and then transfer to a sieve. Set the sieve over your sink and pour a kettle of boiling water over the veg. This removes the strongest smells but keeps most of the flavour. The aromas won’t linger on you – far more sociable! Step Two – While the onion drains, roughly cut the peppers and cucumber into chunks. Step Three – Save a tablespoonful each of onion, pepper and cucumber. Place the remaining onions, peppers, cucumber in a bowl. Add the canned tomatoes. Step Four – Blitz until smooth. (You can use a stick blender, or a jug blender or food processor if you have one.) Step Five – Add the lemon juice, sherry vinegar, and olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Step Six – Blitz again until the oil has emulsified. The soup should be smooth with a creamy texture, and the colour should get a bit lighter. Taste, and adjust seasoning. Finally, add the vegetables that you saved earlier. Blitz briefly. Serve and enjoy!

Hints, Tips and Variations 

• Like nearly every soup this easy gazpacho recipe is better if you make it at least an hour or two in advance. It is good for up to 24 hours in the fridge. 
• You don’t need an expensive blender. An everyday basic stick blender will do the trick. Just be sure to submerge the blade fully before you blend the soup. 
• Buy better quality canned tomatoes!  Not the most expensive, but use a version with a good flavour. You don’t want watery tomatoes. 
• Roasted jarred peppers add another layer of flavour. 
• We love this easy gazpacho with a handful of chopped herbs for garnish. Fresh coriander (cilantro) is especially good. I know it isn’t authentic, but is is delicious. Add a dash of chilli sauce too, if you like it. 
• Garnish this soup any way you like it – try a little manchego, some iberico ham or hard-boiled eggs if you like. 

This is fantastic with a slice of frittata or Spanish omelette, and if you wanted to up the garlic add a blob of allioli. 

More Easy Soup Recipes

• Good soup often starts with a soffritto recipe. Make a big batch, freeze and use every time you make soup.
• Carrot and lentil soup
• Pumpkin and sweet potato soup 
• Swede Soup
• Slow cooker vegetable soup
• Butternut squash soup
• More easy soup recipes

More Tomato Soup Recipes

Tomato is probably the most popular soup there is, so try one of my easy versions 

• Roasted tomato and red pepper soup – roasting the vegetables both concentrates and sweetens the flavours

• Tomato, red pepper and red lentil soup – quick, easy, warming and packed with protein from the lentils

• Pappa al pomodoro – the Italian classic to use up stale bread, taught to me in Tuscany by an Italian nonna!

• Instant Pot tomato soup – throw it all in and press go with this easy “dump and start” recipe

• Easy soup maker tomato soup – so smooth, so intense, so delicious

Summer Soup Recipes

• Pea and lettuce soup
• Salad soup